Extended thermal management

ABSTRACT

A method for managing thermal condition of a thermal zone that includes multiple thermally controllable components include determining thermal relationship between the components and reducing temperature of a first component by reducing thermal dissipation of a second component.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to and is a Continuation Application ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/316,416 filed on Dec. 12, 2008 andis now granted U.S. Pat. No. 8,135,559, which is a ContinuationApplication of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/879,922 filed on Jun.28, 2004 and is now granted U.S. Pat. No. 7,467,059; both of which areentirely incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of thermalmanagement. More particularly, an embodiment of the present inventionrelates to thermal management based on thermal relationship amongcomponents in a system.

BACKGROUND

Platform performance goals continue to drive multiple high-powercomponents typically found in the platforms of desktop computer systemsinto the platforms of mobile computer systems. Leveraging the samecomponents into the platforms of both desktop and mobile computersystems has certain advantages. However, the difference in thermaldissipation capability between the platforms of the desktop computersystems and of the mobile computer systems has resulted inimplementations that may limit the performance of certain high-power,high-performance components when these components are implemented in theplatforms of mobile computer systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be best understood by referring to the followingdescription and accompanying drawings that are used to illustrateembodiments of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a prior art system with asingle thermal zone.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system that includesmultiple thermal zones, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of informationprovided by a thermally controllable component, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates one example of a TRT, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a process that isperformed by a policy manager when an over-temperature signal isreceived, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of process used todetermine cooling operations, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates one example of a computer system, in accordance withone embodiment.

DESCRIPTION

For one embodiment, a method and system for thermal management in acomputer system is disclosed. There may be multiple thermal zones, witheach zone having two or more thermally controllable components. Thermalrelationships between the thermally controllable components in a thermalzone may be used to improve the thermal management of the thermal zone.

In the following detailed description of embodiments of the presentinvention numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide athorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will beapparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the presentinvention may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagramform, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring the presentinvention.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the invention. The appearances of the phrase “for one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment.

Legacy Thermal Zone

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a prior art system with asingle thermal zone. Generally, a thermal zone is defined as a platformentity and may be referred to herein as a legacy thermal zone. Referringto FIG. 1, the legacy thermal zone 100 (illustrated within the dottedlines) may include a processor 105. Typically, throttling andperformance state controls are described for the processor 105. Thelegacy thermal zone 100 may also include other components 110-140. Theprocessor 105 may include an embedded thermal sensor 106. The thermalsensor 106 may be used to monitor the thermal condition of the processor105 and of the legacy thermal zone 100. Among all of the components105-140 within the legacy thermal zone 100, the processor 105 may be theonly component that includes the embedded thermal sensor 106. There isnot much comprehension of temperature or thermal controls of thecomponents 110-140. The implication is that by controlling performancestate of the processor 105, the temperature or thermal condition of thelegacy thermal zone 100 may be controlled.

Multiple Thermal Zones

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system that includesmultiple thermal zones, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecomponents in a system may be grouped into two or more thermal zonessuch as, for example, thermal zones 201, 202 illustrated in FIG. 2within the dotted lines.

For one embodiment, each of the thermal zones 201, 202 may have its ownthermal sensor 206 or 207, respectively. For another embodiment, each ofthe thermal zones 201, 202 may have its own active cooling device (e.g.,a fan) (not shown). An active cooling device 245 may be used to cool tothe components 205, 210, . . . , 235 in the thermal zones 201, 202 whenthere is no thermal zone specific active cooling device. It may bepossible that a component in a thermal zone is coupled to a dedicatedactive cooling device (not shown).

Thermally Controllable Component

For one embodiment, a thermal zone may include two or more componentsthat are thermally controllable. A thermally controllable component maybe able to provide information about its thermal condition. For oneembodiment, a thermally controllable component is a component that isassociated with a thermal sensor. The thermal sensor may be an embeddedthermal sensor. The component may include a thermal interface to exportor provide information about its thermal constraints, its thermalcondition, etc.

The thermal condition may include current temperature (e.g., 78 degreesCelsius). The thermal condition may also include current thermal load(CTL) (e.g., 4 Watts). Being thermally controllable may also include thecomponent having the ability to provide information about its thermalconstraints. The thermal constraints may include trip point value(s),information about possible performance state(s) (P states) and/orpossible throttle state(s) (T states), etc. The thermal constraints mayinclude load information when the component is idle and its maximum loadinformation so that given a current load, the effect of a control (e.g.,P state or linear throttle) may be inferred.

A trip point value may be a temperature value that when the currenttemperature of the thermally controllable component crosses or violates,a signal is generated by the component. A thermally controllablecomponent may have one or more trip point values. The trip point valuesmay be preset and may be dynamically modified by software. Each trippoint value may be associated with a different temperature (e.g., hot,critical, catastrophic, or intermediate etc.) and, when crossed, maynecessitate different types of cooling operations to be performed.

The P states and the T states of a thermally controllable component maycorrespond to different operating states that the component may operatein. The P states may provide more favorable power versus performancetradeoff (e.g., reducing performance by 20% may reduce average power byapproximately 40%). The T states may provide a near linear power versusperformance tradeoff (e.g., reducing performance by 50% may reduceaverage power by approximately 50%). The concepts of P states and Tstates are known to one skilled in the art.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of informationprovided by a thermally controllable component, in accordance with oneembodiment. Referring to the example in FIG. 3, the information providedby the component A (305) in the thermal zone 300 may include its currenttemperature at 80 degrees Celsius, its critical temperature at 82degrees Celsius, its first trip point value at 78 degrees Celsius, andits CTL at 4 Watts. The information provided by the component B (310)and C (315) are also illustrated in the example.

Non-Controllable Component

A thermal zone according to one embodiment may include at least twothermally controllable components and zero or more non-controllablecomponent. A non-controllable component is one that may not beassociated with a thermal sensor even though it may have some thermaldissipation. The non-controllable component may not have a thermalinterface to provide information about its thermal condition. Thenon-controllable component may not be capable of operating in differentP states or T states. Referring to the example in FIG. 3, component 320is illustrated as a non-controllable component. It may be noted that thetemperature of a non-controllable component may be influenced by thetemperature of nearby hot components. Similarly, the cooling of a hotcontrollable component may indirectly help cool a nearbynon-controllable component. It may be possible to have components thathave temperature sensors but have no P-state or T-state controls, andthese components may also be adversely influenced by the hot temperatureof nearby components.

Significant and Non-Significant Thermal Producing Component

Each thermally controllable component in a thermal zone may have adifferent amount of thermal load or burden. For example, referring toFIG. 3, the CTL of the component B (310) is at 15 Watts, while the CTLof the component A (305) is at only 4 Watts. In this example, thecomponent A (305) is located close to the component B (310), andtherefore the thermal condition of the component A (305) may besignificantly impacted or influenced by the thermal condition of thecomponent B (310). The thermal condition of the component B (310) mayalso influence the thermal condition of the component C (315) and thenon-controllable component 320.

When the current temperature of the component A (305) crosses its firsttrip point value at 78 degrees Celsius, the temperature of the componentA (305) may be reduced by changing its P state and/or the T state. Forone embodiment, the temperature of a component (e.g., component A (305))may also be reduced by reducing the thermal impact or influence causedby another component (e.g., component B (310)).

Thermally Sensitive Component

Within a thermal zone, there may be a component that is more thermallysensitive than others. This component may not have a high thermal loadand may have little thermal dissipation. For example, the component C(315) has a CTL of 0.5 Watt. The component C (315) may be a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN) module and may be thermally sensitive. Assuch, it may not be sufficient to control the thermal condition of thethermally sensitive component C (315) by relying solely on its P statesand/or T states. For one embodiment, to control the thermal condition ofthe thermally sensitive component it may be necessary to reduce thethermal impact or influence caused by another thermally controllablecomponent that has higher thermal load (e.g., the component B (310)). Itmay be noted that a component with a very small thermal load may be lesslikely to be thermally controlled except when the component itself is inan over-temperature condition. This is because the small thermal loadcomponent may not materially affect the thermal condition of anothercomponent in the same thermal zone. Similarly, a component with a highthermal load may be more likely to be thermally controlled to help coolother components in the same thermal zone.

Thermal Relationship Table (TRT)

The CTL of a component may contribute to the thermal condition ofanother component and to the thermal condition of a thermal zone. Forone embodiment, a TRT is established to describe thermal relationshipsbetween the components within a particular thermal zone. As such, athermal zone may include, for example, a processor, storage, memory, anda TRT as data input, along with the component interfaces for temperatureand trip point values.

FIG. 4 illustrates one example of a TRT, in accordance with oneembodiment. The TRT 400 in this example may be used to describe thevarious thermal relationship between the components A (305), B (310) andC (315) in the thermal zone 300, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The TRT 400may be illustrated as a matrix of nine entries (3×3) to accommodate thethree components. Each entry may represent the thermal influence thatone component has on another component. For example, entry 425represents the thermal influence that the component A has on thecomponent B.

The thermal influence of one component over another component may notnecessarily be symmetrical. For example, the entry 425 (A's thermalinfluence over B) and the entry 435 (B's thermal influence over A) maynot be the same. In addition, it may be possible that the thermal loadof one component may overwhelm the thermal load of another component ina thermal relationship. The TRT 400 may also describe how much to changeone component in order for that change to have an effect on anothercomponent, how long it takes for a change in one component to affectanother component (change delay time), etc.

It may be possible that a thermally controllable component may berelocated from one location on a platform to another location on theplatform. This change in location may affect the thermal relationshipbetween the components. This change may occur within one thermal zone orit may affect two thermal zones (the old thermal zone and the newthermal zone). For one embodiment, the TRT 400 may be dynamicallyupdatable in order to reflect changes in the thermal relationshipbetween the components. For example, airflow in a thermal zone maychange when a fan is activated. This may cause a change in the thermalrelationships. For one embodiment, in the presence of a static controlpolicy (i.e., one that does not understand bias/budget), the TRT may beupdated to influence that status policy.

User Preference Settings

For one embodiment, user preference settings may be taken intoconsideration when controlling the thermal condition of a thermal zone.A user interface may be available to specify the user preferencesettings. The user preference settings may be directed toward highperformance or long battery life. A high performance setting maycorrespond to high thermal dissipation. A long battery life setting maycorrespond to low thermal dissipation and low performance. In general,passive cooling may include reducing performance to cool, while activecooling may include using power to cool or reducing power while notreducing performance to cool. For one embodiment, when the userpreference settings are directed toward performance, active coolingtechniques may be applied before passive cooling techniques. For anotherembodiment, when the user preference settings are directed toward lowthermal dissipation or energy conservation (e.g., long battery life),the passive cooling techniques may be applied before the active coolingtechniques.

For one embodiment, the user preference settings may not only be towardsperformance or energy conservation but may also be bias to a specificpreference or experience from the user(s) themselves. For example, auser may have a specific preference for gaming experience which may meanthat the processor and the graphics controller components getting morebudget or resource allocation than perhaps a networking component.

Policy Manager

A policy manager may use the TRT to control the thermal condition of athermally controllable component or of a thermal zone. Depending on theimplementation, there may be a single policy manager, or there may bemultiple instantiation of policy mangers, as long as each thermal zoneis associated with a thermal manager to receive signals from thecomponent interfaces and make decisions. The policy manager may alsotake user preference or operating system (OS) requirements as inputs.There may be minimal performance goals that the OS wants to provide.There may also be applications running that have minimum performancegoals. As such, these potentially conflicting goals need to bereconciled by the policy manager to decide what to do using aprioritization scheme. Another input that the policy manager mayconsider is information relating to power used collectively by manysystems that may exceed a facility or rack limit, and the policy managermay use this information as the highest priority input.

When the current temperature of a thermally controllable componentcrosses a trip point value, an over-temperature signal may be generatedby the component and sent to the policy manager. The policy manager mayquery each of the thermally controllable components in the thermal zoneto find out their thermal conditions. This may be performed using thethermal interface provided by the component. The policy manager may thenuse the TRT to determine which component in the thermal zone has thehighest thermal influence on the over-temperature component. The policymanager may then apply appropriate active or passive cooling operations.

The policy manager may need to comprehend the user preference settingsto apply the appropriate active or passive operations. For oneembodiment, when the user preference setting is directed towardperformance, the policy manager may first activate a dedicated activecooling device of the over-temperature component if one is available.When one is not available or when that is not sufficient to cool theover-temperature component, the policy manager may then activate thezone-specific active cooling device if one is available. When that isstill not sufficient or when the zone-specific active cooling device isnot available, the policy manager may activate the platform activecooling device to cool the over-temperature component. When that isstill not sufficient, the policy manager may then start changing the Pstate and/or T state of the over-temperature component.

For one embodiment, when applying the passive cooling operations, thepolicy manager may limit the component or components with the highestthermal influence to the over-temperature component to achieve thedesired thermal condition. For example, the policy manager may notdirect a thermally controllable component to a specific state but rathermay limit the top-end state(s) available to the component. The top-endstate(s) may be higher performance states but may also have higherthermal dissipation. For example, given a component with five P states,the policy manager may limit the component to only the bottom three Pstates in order to bring down its thermal dissipation.

The policy manager may periodically query the over-temperature componentto insure that any thermal control operations performed are effective.The policy manager may use the TRT to find out information about howlong it takes for a change in one component to affect the thermalcondition of the over-temperature component and uses that information todetermine when to do a next query of the over-temperature component.

For one embodiment, when the policy manager determines that the thermalcondition of the over-temperature component is still unacceptable (e.g.,at or above a trip point), the policy manger may again query each of thethermally controllable components in the thermal zone to find out theirthermal conditions and to determine a next component in the thermal zonethat has the highest thermal influence on the over-temperaturecomponent. It may be possible that this next component may be the samecomponent that the policy manager dealt with after the previous query.

For one embodiment, the policy manager may need to keep track of whichcomponents in the thermal zone that have been limited (e.g., limit highperformance states) in order to remove the constraints as soon aspossible once the thermal condition of the over-temperature componenthas been abated. As mentioned above, it may be possible that there aresome components in a thermal zone that are not thermally controllableand thus not capable of participating in the TRT or being configured bythe policy manager. These components may rely on the thermal managementof the nearby components to help control their thermal condition.

For one embodiment, the policy manager may also receive anover-temperature signal when the thermal condition of a thermal zoneexceeds a zone trip point. Upon receiving the signal, the policy managermay read the current temperature and trip points of all of thecomponents in the thermal zone. When the temperature of a component isabove a trip point then P state and/or T state controls or activecooling controls may be applied to the component or to another componentin the thermal zone that is causing the over-temperature condition.

It may be possible that after successive cooling operations, the thermalcondition of an over-temperature component or of an over-temperaturethermal zone cannot be alleviated. For one embodiment, when it is notpossible to correct a thermal condition, the policy manager may shutdown those components that are not critical to system operation.Alternatively the policy manager may shut down the entire system.

Process

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a process that isperformed by a policy manager when an over-temperature signal isreceived, in accordance with one embodiment. Although theover-temperature signal may be received from an over-temperaturecomponent or from an over-temperature thermal zone, this example isbased on the over-temperature component. At block 505, theover-temperature signal is received by the policy manager. At block 510,the policy manager may read the current thermal load of the thermallycontrollable components in the thermal zone. This may be done using thethermal interface. At block 515, the policy manager may use the TRT tofind a component that has a highest thermal influence on theover-temperature component. At block 520, the change delay is read fromthe TRT. This change delay is the time it takes for a change to thethermal condition of one component to take effect on theover-temperature component.

At block 525, the user preference setting is determined. At block 530,appropriate cooling operations are applied based on the user preferencesetting and information from the TRT. At block 535, a delay timer may beset to wait for the cooling operations to take effect on theover-temperature component. At block 540, the policy manager may poll orquery the over-temperature component to determine its thermal condition.If the thermal condition of the over-temperature component is still notacceptable (e.g., current temperature over the trip point), the processcontinues at block 510. Otherwise, the cooling operations performed maybe considered sufficient.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of process used todetermine cooling operations, in accordance with one embodiment. Atblock 605, a test is performed to determine whether the user preferencesetting is directed toward performance or toward low thermal dissipationor longer battery life. If it's directed toward performance, the processcontinues at block 610, where active cooling operations may beperformed. The active cooling operations may include activating one ormore of a component dedicated active cooling device, a thermal zoneactive cooling device, and a platform active cooling device. The processthen continues at block 620.

From block 605, if the user preference setting is directed toward lowthermal dissipation (i.e., long battery life), the process continues atblock 615 where passive cooling operations may be performed. The passivecooling operations may include transitioning a component to a differentP state and/or T state. The component may be the over-temperaturecomponent, or a component that has a high thermal influence on theover-temperature component, or both. The process then continues at block620. As mentioned above, the policy manager may keep track of thecomponents that have been controlled so that these components can bereturned to their higher performance states when the adverse conditionis remedied.

Computer System

FIG. 7 illustrates one example of a computer system, in accordance withone embodiment. Computer system 700 may include processor 705. Theprocessor 705 may be a processor in the family of Pentium processorsmanufactured by Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif. Otherprocessors may also be used. The computer system 700 may include storagedevice 710 and memory 715. The memory 715 may be a combination of one ormore static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory(DRAM), read only memory (ROM), etc.

The computer system 700 may also include a policy manager 720, a thermalrelationship table (TRT) 725 and two or more thermal zones 730-735.Although not shown, the thermal zone 730 may include two or morethermally controllable components. Although not shown, the computersystem 700 may also include other components to enable it to performvarious functions.

Computer Readable Media

It is also to be understood that because embodiments of the presentinvention may be implemented as one or more software programs,embodiments of the present invention may be implemented or realized uponor within a machine readable medium. For example, the policy manager maybe implemented in software and the instructions associated with thepolicy manager may be stored in a machine readable medium. A machinereadable medium may include any mechanism for storing or transmittinginformation in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). Forexample, a machine readable medium may include read only memory (ROM);random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storagemedia; flash memory devices, etc.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made theretowithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention asset forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are,accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictivesense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device, comprising: logic to: determine athermal influence each of a second and third component have on a firstcomponent, the first, second, and third components comprising acomputing system; determine a performance impact to the computer systemof each of the second and third components; and manage a thermalcondition of the first component based on the determination of thethermal influence and the determination of the performance impact byadjusting a thermal condition of one of the second and third componentsto reduce a temperature of the one of the second and third components.2. The device of claim 1, wherein the logic to: receive thermalinformation associated with the second and third components.
 3. Thedevice of claim 2, wherein the thermal information associated with thesecond and third components include one or more trip point values,current temperature, and current thermal load (CTL).
 4. The device ofclaim 2, wherein the logic to: determine user preference settings asrelated to the first component.
 5. The device of claim 4, wherein theuser preference settings relate to performance, energy conservation, oruser experience.
 6. The device of claim 5, wherein the logic to: enableactive cooling operations when the user preference settings relate toperformance and enable passive cooling operations when the userpreference settings relate to energy conservation.
 7. The device ofclaim 5, wherein the logic to: allocate additional resources when theuser preference settings relate to user experience.
 8. The device ofclaim 1, wherein at least one of the first component, the secondcomponent, and the third component is a processor.
 9. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium to store instructions, which when executed by acomputer, causes the computer to perform a method, comprising:determining a thermal influence each of a second and third componenthave on a first component, the first, second, and third componentscomprising a computing system; determining a performance impact to thecomputer system of each of the second and third components; and managinga thermal condition of the first component based on the determination ofthe thermal influence and the determination of the performance impact byadjusting a thermal condition of one of the second and third componentsto reduce a temperature of the one of the second and third components.10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein themethod further comprises: receiving thermal information associated withthe second and third components.
 11. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the thermal informationassociated with the second and third components include one or more trippoint values, current temperature, and current thermal load (CTL). 12.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein themethod further comprises: determining user preference settings asrelated to the first component.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 12, wherein the user preference settings relate toperformance, energy conservation, or user experience.
 14. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the methodfurther comprises: enabling active cooling operations when the userpreference settings relate to performance and enabling passive coolingoperations when the user preference settings relate to energyconservation.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim13, wherein the method further comprises: allocating additionalresources when the user preference settings relate to user experience.16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein atleast one of the first component, the second component, and the thirdcomponent is a processor.
 17. A method, comprising: determining athermal influence each of a second and third component have on a firstcomponent, the first, second, and third components comprising acomputing system; determining a performance impact to the computersystem of each of the second and third components; and managing athermal condition of the first component based on the determination ofthe thermal influence and the determination of the performance impact byadjusting a thermal condition of one of the second and third componentsto reduce a temperature of the one of the second and third components.18. The method of claim 17, further comprising: receiving thermalinformation associated with the second and third components.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, wherein the thermal information associated with thesecond and third components include one or more trip point values,current temperature, and current thermal load (CTL).
 20. The method ofclaim 18, further comprising: determining user preference settings asrelated to the first component.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein theuser preference settings relate to performance, energy conservation, oruser experience.
 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:enabling active cooling operations when the user preference settingsrelate to performance and enabling passive cooling operations when theuser preference settings relate to energy conservation.
 23. The methodof claim 21, further comprising: allocating additional resources whenthe user preference settings relate to user experience.
 24. The methodof claim 17, wherein at least one of the first component, the secondcomponent, and the third component is a processor.